diff --git a/src/material/button/button-base.ts b/src/material/button/button-base.ts
index 823a0cf7f2e4..8d4881954085 100644
--- a/src/material/button/button-base.ts
+++ b/src/material/button/button-base.ts
@@ -215,6 +215,8 @@ export class MatButtonBase implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
 
 /** Shared host configuration for buttons using the `<a>` tag. */
 export const MAT_ANCHOR_HOST = {
+  // Note that this is basically a noop on anchors,
+  // but it appears that some internal apps depend on it.
   '[attr.disabled]': '_getDisabledAttribute()',
   '[class.mat-mdc-button-disabled]': 'disabled',
   '[class.mat-mdc-button-disabled-interactive]': 'disabledInteractive',
@@ -224,7 +226,7 @@ export const MAT_ANCHOR_HOST = {
   // consistency with the `mat-button` applied on native buttons where even
   // though they have an index, they're not tabbable.
   '[attr.tabindex]': 'disabled && !disabledInteractive ? -1 : tabIndex',
-  '[attr.aria-disabled]': '_getDisabledAttribute()',
+  '[attr.aria-disabled]': '_getAriaDisabled()',
   // MDC automatically applies the primary theme color to the button, but we want to support
   // an unthemed version. If color is undefined, apply a CSS class that makes it easy to
   // select and style this "theme".
@@ -267,6 +269,9 @@ export class MatAnchorBase extends MatButtonBase implements OnInit, OnDestroy {
   };
 
   protected override _getAriaDisabled() {
-    return this.ariaDisabled == null ? this.disabled : this.ariaDisabled;
+    if (this.ariaDisabled != null) {
+      return this.ariaDisabled;
+    }
+    return this.disabled || null;
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/material/button/button.spec.ts b/src/material/button/button.spec.ts
index 4577eb16526e..eb4599299386 100644
--- a/src/material/button/button.spec.ts
+++ b/src/material/button/button.spec.ts
@@ -316,13 +316,15 @@ describe('MatButton', () => {
   describe('interactive disabled buttons', () => {
     let fixture: ComponentFixture<TestApp>;
     let button: HTMLButtonElement;
+    let anchor: HTMLAnchorElement;
 
     beforeEach(() => {
       fixture = TestBed.createComponent(TestApp);
       fixture.componentInstance.isDisabled = true;
       fixture.changeDetectorRef.markForCheck();
       fixture.detectChanges();
-      button = fixture.debugElement.query(By.css('button'))!.nativeElement;
+      button = fixture.nativeElement.querySelector('button');
+      anchor = fixture.nativeElement.querySelector('a');
     });
 
     it('should set a class when allowing disabled interactivity', () => {
@@ -354,6 +356,29 @@ describe('MatButton', () => {
 
       expect(button.hasAttribute('disabled')).toBe(false);
     });
+
+    it('should set aria-disabled on anchor when disabledInteractive is enabled', () => {
+      fixture.componentInstance.isDisabled = false;
+      fixture.changeDetectorRef.markForCheck();
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+      expect(anchor.hasAttribute('aria-disabled')).toBe(false);
+      expect(anchor.hasAttribute('disabled')).toBe(false);
+      expect(anchor.classList).not.toContain('mat-mdc-button-disabled-interactive');
+
+      fixture.componentInstance.isDisabled = true;
+      fixture.changeDetectorRef.markForCheck();
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+      expect(anchor.getAttribute('aria-disabled')).toBe('true');
+      expect(anchor.hasAttribute('disabled')).toBe(true);
+      expect(anchor.classList).not.toContain('mat-mdc-button-disabled-interactive');
+
+      fixture.componentInstance.disabledInteractive = true;
+      fixture.changeDetectorRef.markForCheck();
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+      expect(anchor.getAttribute('aria-disabled')).toBe('true');
+      expect(anchor.hasAttribute('disabled')).toBe(false);
+      expect(anchor.classList).toContain('mat-mdc-button-disabled-interactive');
+    });
   });
 });